Neon Shift: Second Gear
by Neo Alexander Wynn
Summary: Years have passed after Neo's family has died, but when a mysterious woman ordered him to go to the city of lights He had found himself compelled to make the journey. There he meets the Courier and the choices they make change the face of the Mojave forever. Can the pair survive the fallout and end the war, or will they die trying.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The wind sent dust into the atmosphere as the dark figure walked out into the wasteland, causing him to shield his face from the biting winds. He walked like this for several hundred yards until he came to a shrine of a sorts. It was a memorial to his long lost sister who was raped and killed by a group of raiders which he had exterminated some few years back. They had him tied up while they did it in front of him to see the extent of his rage. He had told her it was going to be okay until the day they tried to escape into the wastelands only to see her shot and killed in front of him. She was the world to him because she was the only person left that actually cared for him.

When she died he had carried her several miles till they were far from the raiders, only to see the wounds she received were lethal. Now he lived in the town of Megaton a town that was built around an inactive atomic bomb. It took years for him to regain his senses since that day. His abilities to control himself were all but gone in the wind. As of the last few days he has been on guard duty for a caravan that was headed to the Galaxy News Radio building in the center of the city. Three-dog was like a father to him and he would commonly bring new music to be played on the radio that he managed to salvage from the debris that blanketed the capital wasteland.

"Hello there capital wasteland this is three-dog, awhooo. Your friendly neighborhood disc jockey. What's a disc, hell if I know but I'm a keep talking' anyway," the radio cried.

The man sighed as the radio host continued to talk about the current state of the wasteland. This world was sent to oblivion and back in an even worse state than it is now, during the Great War. Now the man was happy to be home and in his own bed for a change.

But outside stood a shadowy figure that waited outside the door to the man's house. It remained silent till a crack of gun fire began to distill in the distance. Just as quickly as it appeared it vanished.

The next day the man awoke with something holding him down. He lived alone for the past five years and never let anything into his home. When he removed the covers it was a young woman, about the age his sister would be now. Quickly he rolled to the floor and grabbed the old prewar colt pistol from underneath his pillow.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house," Neo questioned as she sat up in the bed. She didn't look like she could issue any harm but he was trying to play it safe, "Answer me!"  
"Morning Neo," don't you remember that you brought me here," the woman replied.

Neo quickly shook his head as he never took the gun off of her, "I don't remember letting anyone into my home at any point in time.

She looked out the window and noticed a strange man in black robes messing with the bomb that sat in the center of town before quickly jumping onto Neo and pinning him down to the floor as a bright light filled the room.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter one

When the man came to the woman was sitting on the other side of the room arms crossed. She seemed to be staring out the window at nothing, the man began to turn his head the direction only to have been told stop.

"If you dare to go blind I suggest you don't, the bomb was detonated, but I secured the house in a barrier just so we wouldn't burn to death," she stated as she looked at him.

"What do you mean it was detonated it's a bomb from the great war, an atomic bomb it destroys everything within miles of it," he started as he sat up and looked at her, "There's no way we are alive."

"Neo the town is destroyed look at where you are this place is ruined to the point that we barely survived, have I not held us to the floor."

The man sat in shock, his home was in shambles, his home he lived in for years was destroyed. Finally he looked up at the woman, "What do I do now?"

"Far to the west is a wasteland that you will need to go to, you remember the brotherhood of steel, your comrades?" she asked as she stood up and walked toward him, "your journey will be unbearably long and full of danger but you will succeed if you are to survive."

"How do you know my name," Neo asked as he looked to see the figure gone.

After an hour he stood to his feet and walked out to the waste land. Days seemed to go by as Neo walked into the unknown world he passed through the state of Virginia with ease his name know to all that he is alive. Until he reached the state of Tennessee, he was avoided. But as he approached the state line he stopped, there where border line guards armed with prewar combat armor. He was only armed with his old hunting rifle he found on his last job, mind the fact that he was an escort officer. Slowly one of the soldiers walked toward him and looked him over. Neo's physical state was quite impressive for someone that was only the age of twenty three. He stood adequately well built but not very noticeable from a distance, but the thing that stood out to the guard was the armor the Neo wore which bore the sign of the Brotherhood of steel. Quickly the guard raised the rifle toward Neo's head only to have Neo's rifle pointed at him first. He never took his eyes off of the man in front of him. Neo knew full well that the guard standing at the gate had trained his sights on him long ago, but had waited to see what he would do.

"If you would so kindly let me in I will be out of your way in a matter of minutes," Neo suggested as the guards looked at him.

The gun barrel lowered as the one guard nodded toward the tower gate controller. Soon after the gate raised up and Neo began to walk through to the unknown once more.

Thousands of miles away a lone courier walks the desolate wasteland on a job that could risk her life. Her body aching from days of walking. She searched the horizon for a place to stay for the night before she found an abandoned shack. She scanned the area around her to make sure no one was following her and she walked in and made up camp. She was a normal person so why was she specifically chosen to do this job. She had been followed by some great khans for several days, but for now they were behind her maybe miles back so she decided to rest for the night.

When she came to she had been tied up and was sitting in front of a man in a checkered suit and was surrounded by great khans.

"You gave me a hell of a ride trying to get you, you know that," the suited man stated as he lit a cigarette, "Do you know what the package you were supposed to deliver was?"

The courier shook her head as she struggled with the ropes around her wrists.

"You don't need to know what it is you'll be dead soon anyways," the man said as he drew a silver pistol from his waist, "Good night."

The pistol was fired and the courier fell back into the grave that was dug behind her. Finally she awoke this time in a bed and she shot up from the pillow only to have been held down by an older man.

"Woah, there settle down you just been shot. No need to rush yourself, I had to do surgery to your head got most of the shrapnel out of there and I do say that I'm proud of my handy work," the old man said as he handed the woman a mirror. She stared at it for a minute and looked over the stitching on her head, "But I need to know what kind of damage has been dealt before I can let you go. Let's start with your name can you remember that?"

She sat pondering her mind only to have a name pop into her head only to find out that no words would come out.

"Oh wow they enabled you to not be able to speak," the man said as he looked at her, "Okay would you mind staying here till I can help you with that?"

She nodded quietly and laid back onto the bed before closing her eyes to get some more rest.

"How is she Mitch," a man asked as he sat in the corner.

"She lost her voice from the shot, but she needs to get to an auto-doc to fully recover. Bullet caused more damage than that," Doc Mitch stated as he stopped in the hallway, "But have you not found her she would be dead right now."

"I will take care of her from here Mitch you can go on and do what needs to be done," the man stated as he opened the door to walk outside. Ping me on the pip-boy when she wakes up I'm going to be at the Prospector's Saloon."

"I never got you name son," Mitch stated, "Who are you."

The man looked back and his sapphire eyes pierced Mitch with an agonizing pain.

Silently the door shut and he walked into the wasteland. Mitch looked back at the woman sleeping on the bed in the room next to him. She laid there breathing quietly as if dreaming.

Miles away Neo crawled up a hill to see what had been causing so much commotion just a few minutes ago. As his head crested the hill he saw a Deathclaw tearing a group of soldiers apart. Quickly he drew his hunting rifle and loaded a .308 round into the chamber. He sighted it on the Deathclaw's hand to injure its offensive capabilities. As he pulled the trigger the round flew through the air and landed a direct hit on the creature's hand disabling it from attacking but also gathering its full attention. Quickly he holstered the weapon and began a full sprint out of the area towards a ruin of pre-war buildings, and taking cover in one to hide from the beast. He remained quiet till it was about a hundred feet from where he was and he fired at its head causing it to stagger in pain. After a few more shots the beast fell to the ground and stopped breathing. He had figured that the last soldier alive was going to take the dog tags that the soldiers wore around there necks while he fought the thing. Little did he know, that the soldier had watched him fight the beast.

Neo took in a deep breath and sighed as he stood up from his knees to walk to New Vegas once more. After about what seemed like hours Neo stopped, "What are you wanting Soldier," Neo yelled as he looked back to see the man.

"Sir why did you do that," he asked as he held an old service rifle.

Neo wondered the same thing for the past few hours, it was a waste of his ammo and his time, "and I wonder that too. All I know is that I can't let people get killed while I idly watch from the sidelines."

With that said Neo began to walk again this time without someone following him.

Days passed and Neo continued to walk this time he was almost at the Colorado River before something on his Pip-Boy light up, it was an emergency broadcast, brotherhood channel too.

"This is Unit Echo one two niner we are requesting back up at the searchlight airport, I repeat requesting back up," the broadcast cried.

Neo quickly opened the Map page of the Pip-Boy and noticed he wasn't far from their position, "Unit Echo one two niner, this is Neo Wynn. I hear you request and are hereby on route, can you hold position?"

"Neo Wynn we can but not for very long we have taken severe casualties and will not last much longer so please hurry," the man said.

Neo was already in a full sprint toward their location before he came to a hill overlooking the airport. He drew the scoped rifle and began firing at the ambushers of the friendlies. He fired again and again dropping the targets as they forced their way closer to his comrades. The barrage of .308 rounds continued for a few more minutes until the ambushers finally retreated.

"Neo! Thank god that you showed up when you did. My name is Sabastian Graden, Echo leader. What can I do to…" Sebastian said before he noticed the insignia on Neo's Shoulder, "sorry sir I did not realize that you were in the brotherhood.

"Soldier go home get some rest and leave the burials to me," Neo said as he walked to the bodies, "I have something I need to do around here so go on."

Sabastian stood there for a minute before looking at his remaining team, and nudging his head toward Neo in an order to help with the burials, "Sir we came here on a mission we're not going to stand idly by as a stranger helps us."

Neo gave a slight chuckle, "I'd say the same thing but I have been walking from the capital wasteland to get to Vegas. Now that I'm only a few miles from where I need to be I can spare some time." Neo looked at the bodies and located one that was out of place. It was a woman that he had known in the capital, "What is her name?"

"That was Heather Joyce Reaper, she joined because of a man that saved her serveral years ago, though she would never give us a name," Sabastian stated as Neo stared at her.

"She couldn't tell you who it was she never got the name, he vanished after learning hers," Neo replied as he lifted her from the ground, "She also didn't want to be buried she wanted to be placed in the river with her favorite flower in her hands when she died. Neo looked around for something as he knelt down next to a small tulip, before breaking its stem at the base, and walking back to the river.

"Eon De Fro Ty," Neo stated as he gently placed her in the water with the small flower in her hands, "Rest forever more."

Back at Mitch's place the courier awoke again this time a little more careful. It was midnight outside. A better time than never to get out and find the one who shot her. But before she noticed a figure sat next to her staring at her quietly, the man was dressed in Desert Ranger armor exclusive to the NCR Rangers. "Just stay calm I'm not here to do anything to you that can potentially harm you."

She remained calm long enough for him to tell her that he was the one that found her, and to get his name before the door to the house opened and a man in combat armor walked in grasping his arm.

"Doc Mitch we have another gunshot victim this one is still walking though," the Ranger said.

"Come in and take a seat in the bed here," The man sat down and looked at the courier across the room, "What caused this?"

"Sniper not a very good one though missed the head," the new man said as he notice a scowl on the woman's face, "Sorry if I offended you somehow."

"And what's your name," Mitch asked as the man looked back at him.

"The name is Neo Wynn," he said as he removed his armor to reveal his torso, every inch covered in scars. The woman stared at him in amazement, she tried to look away but found herself completely captivated by what his body looked like.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter two

After what seemed to be an hour Neo checked his arm to check the responsiveness of it. He couldn't help but notice the woman was staring at him the whole time, but she never said a word.

"Can I help you somehow," Neo asked as she slowly nodded, "How is that?"

She pointed to her head before pointing at her throat. "Ah you got shot in the head and can't speak is that it," Neo added as she nodded again, "You're wanting to find the one that did it to you too."

"She needs to go to an auto-doc for her to fully recover from her injuries, but I don't know where one would be around here," Mitch interrupted as he walked into the room.

"Most vaults that I've visited had one or two in the infirmaries. But not many are operational," the ranger stated, "But Vault 11 has a few that are but I don't think I can make it there on my own let alone with someone else in tow."

"Which direction is the Vault," Neo asked as he stood to his feet and honed his combat armor.

"To the east of here and south of the I-188 trading post," the ranger added, "Lot of trouble along the way, Deathclaw, legionnaires, raiders, and the works."

"I'll figure out a way there she will need to tag along," Neo started as he looked at Mitch and the Rangers Pip-boys, "Mitch do you have any use of you pip-boy anymore?"

"No I guess not, why," Mitch replied as he looked at it for a minute.

"Would you mind giving it to the woman here for her to use," neo concluded.

"Not at all," he replied as he disconnected the strap holing it to his wrist, "Here you go."

She looked at Neo for a minute before she strapped the computer to her wrist. She quickly stood up and looked at the ranger as to reassure herself that she did need to do this.

"Okay lets go we don't have much time left for the day so we need to get a move on," Neo stated as he opened the door outside.

Night fell within the hour as the two walked in silence. Neo was not very much amused by the wildlife that continually tried to kill the two of them. Final Neo came to a halt looking around before he reached for his rifle. He heard something close by but it wasn't a sound he had known. Before long sound began to get clearer as he could finally make out the sound the courier grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind a rock. She started to draw a word in the sand. Cazadors, very dangerous. Neo nodded as he began to peek over the rock to see what they were. Mutated wasps of the old world, there buzzing began to get annoying as they began to move away from the pair. As the last one crested one of the dunes that covered the land scape Neo stood to his feet before helping the courier who swatted his hand away.

"Cazadors, Deathclaw what else mutated geckos," Neo added as he noticed a large golden lizard sprinting toward him, "Spoke to soon."

Quickly he sighted the rifle and fired hitting it in the leg, causing it to trip. He quickly pulled the bolt back to chamber another round before firing into the creatures head.

Neo looked at his Pip-boy and scanned the map for the Vault, "Let's go north. Not too far from here now." The courier nodded and followed Neo as he stopped. "You don't have a weapon do you?"

She shook her head before noticing Neo digging through his bag, removing a 9mm pistol, and extending it to her.

"You do know how to use this right," he asked as he quickly pulled it away from her as she reached for it. She nodded, "Good."

He handed it to her and began to walk north. It wasn't long afterwards that he heard the sound of gunfire behind him and a group of raiders began to fire at them. Neo was quick on the trigger but when one of the raiders had a hold of his rifle Neo reached for the pistol he carried on his vest. It was a 9mm handgun as well and he placed it against the raider's skull before firing it off and sending fragments of skull and chunks of grey matter into the desert winds. He quickly sighted it on another raider that wasn't too far from him and fired a round into his leg. The courier was firing at each raiders head and causing untold amounts of damage and blood to cover the ground. She had finished off nearly four of them before turning toward the one Neo was holding for questions.

"Who are you," Neo yelled as he pressed his pistol to the raider's throat.

"You can burn in hell for all I care," the raider spat as he looked at the courier, "And your little bitch too."

Neo wasn't one for smart ass remarks before he shot the raider in his knee, "Again who are you?"

"Kill me I won't tell you," the raid shouted as the courier raised the handgun to his head.

"Okay I'll give you a name," Neo said as he looked at the courier, "Dog meat."

She fired the gun as neo let go of the raider and he fell limp to the ground. Neo looked at her as she holstered the pistol in her belt. She was young and she seemed familiar to him for some unknown reason, but he dismissed the thought and continued to the vault that was just coming into view. The vault door stood out against the desolate landscape. As they entered Neo holstered his rifle and honed the 9mm pistol and quickly checking each room and corridor they entered till they came to the infirmary. Neo was worried that while she was inside the auto-doc that they would be ambushed. So he closed the doors and began a program to lock all the doors in while she found the program to do a full diagnostics scan. Suddenly the steel door of the machine slid open and the courier stepped in. Neo watched as the door quickly closed and the monitor began to record the Couriers status. The bullet had caused her to have a slight instability to her sanity, loss of voice, and a split personality.

Finally the screen read performing operation to voice box and banging began to ring out at the door out of the infirmary. He knew it was going to happen, raiders. But instead the door opened and soldiers bearing the seal of the brotherhood flooded the room. All technology was the target including the auto-doc that was currently in use.

"Hey leave that alone," Neo shouted as he grabbed the arm of one of the soldiers that began to fiddle with the machine, before having it being jerk from him, "I said stop soldier!"

The man turned toward Neo fast enough to see Neo's fist implanted into his face. It was a matter of seconds that the team of soldiers raised their laser rifles toward Neo and began to threaten him.

"Go for it, unless you want to be court marshalled for killing an officer of higher rank," Neo started as he pointed to his insignia, "head star paladin Neo Alexander Wynn, Head of the brotherhood of steel District of Columbia branch. Fire, if you will. There is a living person inside this auto-doc and she will die if you tear it down."

"Neo Wynn we have orders to shoot you on sight for treason and disobeying the chain that binds," one soldier stated as he sighted the laser rifle, "Do you have any requests?"

"Yes," Neo replied. "Just one."

"What would that be," the soldier replied.

"Get down," Neo started as he dropped to the ground as a sentry bot entered the room and began unleashing a hell fire of rockets and lasers into the BoS soldiers. Neo watched as the bot began to finally stop and scan the room once again for targets. Finally it registered no more targets in the area and left the room. "So I have committed treason and broke the chains that bind. Huh."

It was several hour that the machine held the courier inside the tube before the doors opened and she dropped out onto Neo's back. She was unconscious but she had the scars healed completely, Neo stood to his feet and lifted her onto his shoulders before he walked out of the vault. "In this life there are some things that one person can do but only to a point, but when you have someone you can trust there is nothing that you can do," neo muttered under his breath, "So trust me and you will not fall."

Neo carried her back south to a small town that was now called Novac, and decided to rest there for a few days till she full recovered before returning to Goodsprings. It wasn't long till she awoke to see Neo asleep across the room from her, his hunting rifle resting on his lap and a 9mm pistol on the nightstand next to him. She looked around the room for a minute before trying to call his name, "N-Ne-Neo."

Neo's head slowly lifted up as he looked at her, he didn't look like he had much sleep since a week ago.

"Ah, you're finally awake for once," Neo said as he rested the rifle into the chair he sat in, "are you feeling okay?"

"Yes much better still… barely able to talk," she replied as she sat up in the bed as he sat at her feet.

"Okay you need to rest a bit more I'll go get some food here soon," Neo said as he lifted a pouch of bottle caps, "Can you please stay here till then?"

She nodded as she looked around the room while he walked outside.

"So Neo how is she," a man in a gas mask asked as Neo closed the door.

"Ulysses what do you plan to do to the woman? She never did anything to you," Neo said as he leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette, "And do you think that she will go through with your trail of destruction on her own?"

"I plan on letting her join of her own free will," the man said as he stepped away, "And she will succeed in defeating me one way of another."

Neo continued to take the last drag off of his cigarette before walking to the supply tent on the other side of the building to get some food. He met the sniper that takes his shift during the night a few days ago and became decent friends with him. The man's name was Boone, he was also a first recon sniper for the NCR a few years back and he still bore his beret from the unit as well. Neo laughed at the motto of the unit, "The last thing you'll never see." It was ironic in a way, Neo was a sniper in the Brotherhood of steel for ten years and he never wanted to leave the rifle that was given to him those years ago. He too never gave his enemy a chance to see him before he fired the round.

"Neo shift change," Boone said as he pointed with his thumb towards the big dinosaur.

"Thanks man," Neo replied as he walked back into the room and grabbed his rifle before turning toward the courier, "here's the food and I'm changing shifts with Boone for night watch. I'll be back in eight hours."

"Neo thank you for helping me," she said as she looked at him, "And my name is Sarah."

"Sarah," Neo repeated, "Well then Sarah I'll see you in a few hours."

"Please be careful," she said as she laid back in the bed.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Sarah sat in the bed for an hour before she got up and changed into her gear that had been taken off of her while she was unconscious. As she began to remove the night gown she wore she had felt a scar that wasn't on her before she met Neo, she gently glided her fingertips over it wondering where she had gotten it before she dismissed the thought as she put on her leather armor.

"You dressed," someone called from outside the door.

She walked to the door to open it to see who might have been there, it was the ranger.

"I see that you are up and walking again," the ranger said as he looked at her, "Can you talk?"

"Yes," she said as she motioned him to come in.

"That's good Neo pinged me on the Pip-boy a day ago," the ranger said as he closed the door behind him, "Name is Victor Rotciv."

"Sarah Lyons," she said as she extended her hand to shake his.

"Do you know Neo in some way," Victor asked as he looked at her.

"The man is a brotherhood of steel paladin. Not many people here know his name, but the ones that escaped the bomb the enclave sought to defeat us with five years ago," she said as she looked at one picture of her old unit, "We left that life behind years ago after Neo had gone missing. Man was a hell of a commander in chief, but years of isolation can change a man. He had watched his family die in front of him by enclave soldiers several years ago."

"The man has a hell of a back story then huh," he asked as he looked at the picture, "That him in the vault suit?"

"Yeah that's him he was only turning twenty then, looking to find his father amongst all the ruins in the capital wasteland, only to see him die from radiation. I was with him during that moment. It was a hard sight to watch, but he drove on looking to find better ways to help everyone, and from the short time that I've known his father I've seen what he can do. And Neo's motivation was to exceed what his father could do," she said as she pointed at five other people in the photo, "He had made a team that was flawless, rebuilt machines that were thought to have never worked again, even helped the brotherhood rebuild the wasteland for the better."

"What happened then to make you two end up here," Victor asked as he looked towards the door.

"The enclave attacked, we had been out on a mission, he was on his way to briefing for the final assault on their base, before they had detonated a bomb inside the citadel, our home. We couldn't get out of there in time that's where this scar was formed she said as she pointed at the scar that crossed her back, "Neo then made a mission plan that seemed to be flawless, if not suicidal, he thought we could bomb the enclave base after we exposed the hangers so that they could destroy them from the inside."

"how did that go," Victor asked before he saw a change in her expression.

"That was when he had gone missing, we ended up destroying the enclave once and for all at the expense of losing Neo and his team. We searched for weeks before we called the search off," she started as she looked at the door, "He has seen things no man should ever see in his life time, but he is still the man I've grown to be fond of."

Victor sat silently as he looked at the picture there was seven people in the photo excluding Neo and Sarah, "Who are the other people in the photo?"

"Oh that's Neo's team, the Nighthawks. The older looking man was my father and our elder, the others are Cody, Destin, Destiny, Nick, Nicole, and Jason," she said as she pointed to the photo, "But don't let him know that I'm Lyons, I gave up that life years ago and I don't plan on going back to it."

Victor nodded as he stood up and went to the door, "The secret is safe with me."

Sarah smiled as a heavy burden was lifted off of her shoulders. "Thank you."

It was several hours later that neo opened the door and rested his rifle at his chair before he slumped down onto the floor, "Damned Legion raiding parties, constantly trying to take slaves," Neo started as he removed his combat vest, "Can't they just quit trying in this town."

Sarah was sitting on the bed looking Neo as she noticed the many scars on his right arm. She had seen some of them before and she could remember how he had gotten them too. She gasped as he removed the armor plating revealing a scar that spanned from his waist and up to his shoulder.

Neo quickly looked over at her as if she screamed for help, "What's wrong?"

She had closed her eyes and he looked at his chest, she had seen the scar he had received from a Legendary Deathclaw over a year ago, "Look at me Sarah," He ordered as she violently shook her head before he grabbed her and forced her to look toward him, "LOOK AT ME!"

She opened her eyes to see the scar was the length of her for arm, he held her there till she began to have tears pool up at her eyes.

"This scar is something I've lived with for two years now," he said as he let go of her, "This scar is a sign that I have failed to protect someone dear to me. Someone that I cannot forget about. She was the world to me and they killed her while I could do nothing to stop them."

Sarah began to tear up even more after he had said he failed, she had always looked up to the man that sat in front of her for years. He was a man of no greater strength but of selfless service. He had protected the people around him young or old, big or small. He was the man she wanted to be like, but could never achieve.

"Sarah, not many people here know of me I know that, but they can learn about me," He started as he sat up, "War doesn't change. Men do by the Roads they walk, but some roads we have to walk alone. The one I failed to protect was my little sister. Not by birth but by heart."

Sarah's eyes opened when he began to tell the story of how he had met her in the wasteland.

"She died by an enclave Deathclaw," Neo stated as he felt a hand be placed onto his shoulder.

He grabbed her wrist and pushed it away. He had no room left in his heart for pity or remorse, only sorrow and pain. She had seen him like this before and it stung her heart to see him like this again. She wanted to say something to him but she couldn't find the word to say, she was left speechless by the stories of his life once more.

Neo stood to his feet and slumped down onto the chair on the other side of the room. She had fought with him in the final battle against the enclave only to have been removed from the field before he had gone missing. She heard rumors that he had survived the fight and went into a life of isolation, in truth he didn't. He kept living his life in a normal way helping people in need and working on lost technology that was to have never been able to work again.

"Brotherhood of Steel Unit November six three Kilo, aka Nighthawks," She stated as she looked at the insignia on the combat armor he wore, "I've heard of them."

"And how do they sound to you," Neo asked as he looked at her.

"They sounded as if they were unstoppable, the leader never lost a battle and never lost his men in war," she replied as she looked at him, "What happened to you all?"

"All but one of us died," she mumbled as he hung his head, "They died during recovery several years ago."

"So you're the last of the Nighthawks," she asked.

"Yes and that's enough questions, we're leaving tomorrow morning," Neo stated, "we're going to going to be heading to Hidden Valley. There is someone I'd like to talk to."

It was an hour later that Neo went to sleep and his rifle rested in his lap, she was asleep thirty minutes before he was. The next morning Neo suited himself with his standard combat armor and then proceed to wake up Sarah. He noticed that she had awoken before him and had equipped herself with better armor and a rifle to better protect herself than what her worn out leather armor would.

"So are you ready to go," She said as she lifted her laser rifle to her shoulder.

Neo smiled as he stood to his feet as he walked to the door and opened it to the outside world. Boone, Victor, and someone Neo didn't recognize was standing out in the old parking lot that sat outside of their room. They were loaded out with gear that Neo could recognize, it was old Prewar Riot Armor. They also bore weapons that were unique to there fighting style. Boone with his scoped hunting rifle, Victor with his assault rifle, and the mysterious woman with a power fist.

"What is going on out here," Neo asked as he turned to Sarah, "And who is that?"

"They decided to join us as a part of the Nighthawks team," Sarah replied as she looked at Neo, "Victor and Boone were in the military for several years and the woman is a brotherhood of steel paladin."

"Boone are you sure you want to do this," Neo asked as he looked at him.

"As long as you don't help the legion I'm game," He remarked.

"Paladin, what's your name," Neo asked as he looked at Sarah in worry.

"My name is Veronica," She snapped, "not Paladin."

Neo looked at Victor for a moment before turning to Veronica, "We are going to Hidden Valley so I may talk to someone," Neo stated as he looked at his Pip-Boy, "My name is not to be spoken unless absolutely necessary, Okay?"

The group nodded and began to head north till the came to a halt at a narrow valley that split there pathway. Neo checked the time to see if they could get there before long, he turned to Veronica. He didn't much like the Brotherhood for trying to kill him but as long as she didn't know his name he was going to be fine with her along.

"So what are we going to do," Sarah asked as she looked at the valley.

"We go in and keep your eyes open for anything," Neo stated as he entered the passage, soon followed by the rest of the team, 'we don't know what is beyond here but I have a feeling that this is going to be a bad idea.'

It wasn't long before his worries came true as a group of giant radscorpions appeared in an opening. Victor was fast to react as he threw a frag grenade and got everyone behind cover as the explosive went off taking one or two of the giant beasts. Veronica ran up to them and ducked underneath one of the broods as the radscorpion lunged forward, she quickly slammed her fist into the tail of the beast and the power fist punched a hole big enough to cause the tail to fall to the ground just before she slammed her fist downward into the creature to kill it.

Sarah was sitting back with her service rifle as she fired a few rounds into the eyes of three radscorpions, dropping them to the ground, Boone was on the ridge behind Neo and Victor as he fired a few carefully placed shots into the radscorpions' tails. Neo had drawn his .44 magnum revolver and did the same reloading after every sixth shot. Victor's assault rifle was a marksman's rifle, which in truth he was to accurate with the thing. Neo thought as he got behind cover to reload.

"SUPER MUTANTS," Boone shouted as he pointed up the cliff face.

The team went into full alert as a mini-gun began to scream just before a fury of 5mm rounds showered the area. There were five in total and Neo sworn he saw a glimmer of something moving, as it closed in on Veronica. Neo quickly swapped to his rifle and began to fire the .308 rounds into the mutant horde. He could tell that the rounds were effective due to the amount of blood scattering on the exit wound. Victor quickly joined in with a barrage of .223 rounds at the centaurs that followed close behind. Boone had been firing in unison with Neo as they both gave Veronica and Sarah cover fire.

Before long Sarah had closed the gap between the super mutant horde and herself, this time she carried a katana, he had seen something on her back from earlier but didn't think anything of it till now as she kneecapped one of the super mutants to the ground and severing its head from its body. Veronica was right behind her as she forced her fist into super mutants one after another, they were fast and deadly as the two began to wipe the horde to mere stragglers. It was Boone who noticed the glimmer move up the ridge face toward the deadly pair before sighting his rifle and firing a round off.

Suddenly a nightkin lurched forward from the shot and appeared. "Sarah behind you," Neo cried out as the nightkin raised its weapon into the air to thrust downward at Sarah.

She didn't have time to move or even react to its sudden appearance, Boone had fired another round this time into the beast's skull sending bits of grey matter onto the rocky cliff side. Sarah fell as the beast toppled to its side and fell to the ground in front of her, a state of shock covered her face. Quickly Veronica ran next to her and lifted her from the dirt and brushed the sand from her armor.

"This is not a good place to stay right now let's get out of here," Victor said as he slung the rifle across his back. Everyone nodded as they sprinted out of the open and into hidden valley.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When they finally reached the opening at the end of the passage it had started to get dark. Okay let's set up camp here for the night…" Neo said before Veronica interrupted.

"No need were here," she said as she opened a vault door that led to a staircase.

"How positive are you that we're here," Boone asked as he raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses.

"I live here dumbass," she stated as she began to walk down the stairs, "Sarah, Neo. Elder McNamera has been wanting to talk to you to for some time."

Neo looked at Sarah with unease for a moment before entering the underground bunker. They were greeted by brotherhood of steel paladins and scribes alike, all standing at a salute. But at the end stood the Elder, a younger man than Lyons was.

"Welcome to our home Brothers," the Elder said as he spread his arms up to his shoulders to an empty room.

"What kind of idiot you take me as," Neo quoted as he drew his pistol and placed it toward a paladins head, "These men are not brotherhood soldiers, and they're slaves. They aren't even in the standard issue armor that is to be given to them by the Steel. Do you honestly think that I will fall for a trap?"

The elder sighed in disappointment as he waved the people away. The mock soldiers stepped away, as real Soldiers stepped out from the door behind the elder weapons drawn. Neo smiled as he looked at the group that stood before them, Power armor, guass rifles, rippers, and laser pistols.

"These are real brotherhood of steel soldiers," Neo cried in excitement, "But do you imagnine that you can easily kill me."

"Yes we do but we have orders from the brotherhood in Texas that you have betrayed your comrades in arms for the sake of your own benefit," the elder stated as Sarah quickly looked at Neo to see his face has not changed, "These orders where placed several weeks ago and have been issued to anyone that comes into contact with you."

"But there is one crucial obligation that you have forgotten that goes within those orders," Neo stated as he holstered his pistol, "Orders cannot be sent out without further conclusion if a Head Star Paladin has not signed the order himself which here by nullifies all given orders to a halt. Do you know the name of the Head Star Paladin that must order all executional order forms?"

"There have been three head paladins since the creation of the Brotherhood, one was the first man to join, second was Elder Lyons, the third has been lost to history but he has existed to this day."

"The way a head star paladin is chosen is by unlocking the nuclear missile silos that are located in what is now the divide," Neo stated as he held a small pad up in front of him, "Alpha zulu wun tu niner foxtrot yankee mike uniform tree fower ait hotel yankee six."

As the letters and numbers appeared on the screen slots began to be taken up, suddenly the last number filled the blank, "Access Granted, Welcome Head Paladin."

Sarah stood looking at Neo for a moment before she remembered her father telling her that in the coming years he would have to choose a head paladin to overrule the Brotherhood of Steel. She never thought that the decision was concluded to be Neo one of the most respected and feared Knights in the BoS. Neo closed the screen and carefully placed the pad back into his backpack, before walking to the elder.

"I think I won the game McNamara," Neo stated as he looked around the room of soldiers, "We are a Brotherhood, the chain that binds states that an Elder cannot place orders to paladins without giving the orders to the head knight. But a head Star Paladin can order any group of person to perform a task without the chain that binds."

Sarah knew of the chain that binds and all the governing rules of that code, but the Head Paladin is above even an Elder's code. He is the absolute power of that distinction, he commands the entirety of the Brotherhood of Steel, and no one is able to stand above him.

Neo sighed as he knew he was no longer going to be hunted and turned toward Boone and Victor, "Shall we go?"

Boone nodded as he looked at Sarah who was apparently lost in thought, before Neo walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She nodded as she looked at him to see that he was going to leave her if she didn't catch up soon.

They walked several miles in silence until Victor finally spoke up, "Neo are you just going to leave them behind?"

"Yep, I left the brotherhood seven years ago," Neo said as he looked back at Sarah, "Just never forgot the face of a team member, Lyons."

She jumped as she noticed he had said her last name. "Did you really think that I didn't know who you were," He added as he pointed at his Pip-Boy, "This is a computer that can analyze a lot of data. During your operation to get your voice back the auto-doc stated you as Sarah Lyons."

She hung her head as her expression changed from shock to regret. He walked to her and placed his hand on her head and tilted it back. He stared at her for a minute before he left go of her smiling, "Don't worry about it I'm not upset that you tried to hide it from me. You just didn't know how to explain that you survived. Truthfully I thought that you were in the explosion at the citadel those years ago."

She looked out at the desert to see the tower that stood above the wasteland, "I was sent out on a mission before they were bombed, my team was sent to Galaxy News Radio to get some information from Three-dawg. We had gotten it though we really didn't think that it was valuable. We had heard the explosion when we got half of the way back home. Only to see it burning in nuclear fire, we had seen your APC a few miles away inside of the Super Duper mart. Though we couldn't get you out. Afterward we started heading to the BoS in Tennessee to see if they would accept us. Everywhere we went we were declined no one would allow a band of misfits in their bases."

"I've known you were alive for the past few months, the Tennessee BoS began to get attacked and I helped them on one of their missions that they asked me to do with them, Texas even told me about you, they all confirmed that you have been through here," Neo said as he looked at the moon over head, "Let's get some rest for the night. We have a long walk ahead of us."

"So do you think that it's worth the caps to get these two," A man said as he rested the bottle of beer on the counter.

"Six thousand caps and a position in Caesar's Legion," a man dressed in crimson said as he slammed his glass of whiskey onto the counter.

"Deal," the other said as he stood up and walked out of the empty saloon into the desert.

Neo, Sarah, Boone, and Victor had made up camp at an old prewar camp site, for the night and neo was the first to awaken and get breakfast ready. Sarah had woken up several times that night from nightmares, but now she was dead asleep and not making a noise. She had slept in the camper next to Neo that night. He had already had breakfast planned out. He had carried about four boxes of trail mix for the past few days and finally turned to using them. Boone was awake and keeping an eye out for anything that would compromise themselves from a ridge above them. They switched out after Neo ate so that Boone could, and the others slept.

"Neo. Where are you planning to go exactly," Boone asked as he walked up to the ridge next to Neo, "Or are you going to keep walking?"

Neo shook his head he had planned on staying here from the remained of his life but if the time came he would walk the wasteland again, "I am going to get her ready for the trails ahead, I'm thirty-six years old Boone not many people get to say that out here, but I plan on living as long as I possibly can."

Boone grabbed the binoculars that rested next to Neo and looked out into the wasteland, something had caught his eye while Neo was talking and he wanted to see what it was a glint of a scope that was watching them, "Neo get down now," Boone said loud enough to where Neo could hear it. Neo quickly ducked down just before a bullet cracked against the stone wall behind him, "Sniper."

Neo quickly grabbed his rifle and asked for a location, "East seems to be about five hundred meters out, wind seems to be going six miles per hour. Adjust ten degrees skybound, three degrees north."

Neo quickly trained the rifle, and fired Neo watched as the round hit its target, before he was jerked downward as another round cracked against the stone wall. "What rifle are they using Boone, That's definitely not a .308 round," Neo said as he chambered another round.

"It's a .50 BMG, it's the anti-material rifle," he stated as he peeked over the wall the scope glint was gone, "We're good but he's not dead, he's been injured."

"Well that's good enough with me," Neo said as he lowered his rifle, "We won't be seeing him for a while then."

"Neo what was going on I heard gunfire," Sarah yelled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry just getting target practice," Neo said as he looked at Boone, "Snipers have to keep practicing to not lose their skill."

"Why did you lie to her," Boone said as Neo looked back at the desert.

"I've been hunted by the legion for the past few months," Neo replied, "I don't want her worry about me. She has been haunted about the past for years, she regrets not being with me after the battle against the enclave. But she's alive because I ordered her to retreat, I knew that it was a suicide mission."

"You ordered her to retreat because you wanted her to live and not suffer the same fate as you," Boone asked as he sighed, "let me tell you something Neo. I had a family before too. I watched my wife die in front of me. She was being sold as a slave by the legion, I sore that I wouldn't fight anymore but when they took here I couldn't help but fight. They had her up for bids, there was too many for me to take on and I only had my rifle, but I lined up the shot and fired."

"You did the right thing, she would have ended up worse if she was a slave for the remained of her life," Neo said as he placed his hand on Boone's shoulder.

"I guess you're right, it's better to make her suffering stop than to let her live as a slave," Boone said as he extended his hand out to Neo, "Thank you."

"Boone life is short but love will last forever," Neo rebounded as he shook Boone's hand, "She's watching over you to make sure you can live a happy life, regardless if you notice it or not."

Boone looked at the crimson morning sky lost in thought before a whispered something that was lost to the wind. It wasn't long until Victor woke up and the group was ready to get a move on for the day, they had time to kill and they were planning on stopping at a trading post somewhere along the road to get some more supplies before they ran out. Sarah and Neo talked along the way stopping to take out the occasional raider groups and Cazadors. Neo and Boone had at least become closer than before, while he still remained distant to Victor.

"So Boone, what was the First Recon like," Neo asked as he looked back over his shoulder as he walked next to Sarah.

"It wasn't anything big really, small unit of snipers and we were accurate as hell," He replied as he shifted his gaze toward Neo, "Not many NCR soldiers could shoot."

"ah so you were like the Brotherhood of Steel Recon Scouts, Deadly at any range," Neo asked as he looked ahead.

"Never heard of them, fought the Brotherhood at Helios one a few years ago," He replied.

"Ah so you not only heard of them but you've seen what they can do," Neo asked with a excited tone in his voice.

"Yes, battle took a few days but we took the location to help power the Mojave," Boone stated as he looked away from Neo, "Took a hell of a lot of them down."

"Hey if you think I'm going to hold a grudge against you you're wrong," Neo said as he stopped, "I don't exactly care about them anymore. We're almost to Vegas, let's not worry about the past and let's continue to the future."

Everyone nodded as they faced the steel wall that surrounded the town. Neo smiled as he looked at the tower that stood above them and pointed at the highest point. 'We're coming to get you house ready or not."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Neo took a deep breath as he looked back at his team, the nighthawks were irreplaceable and now he had a team that was experienced in the form of warfare, but only one of them he knew personally. He looked at Sarah and sighed.

"Alright here's the deal I'm making a quick stop for supplies and a good night's rest if you wish to join me and get the items we need, meet me at the base of the tower the rest of you go and find us a place to stay for the night," he said as he find somewhere cheap, "Sarah come with me I need to have a word with you."

Sarah quickly ran up beside him as he placed his hand on her shoulder and they both walked into the gate to the strip, "How long have you been here?"

"I've been here for maybe a few years not very long but Neo what happened to you after the attack on the enclave?" she asked as she looked him in the eyes.

He looked toward the sky and sighed, this was a memory he no longer wanted to have on his mind, "we made it out of the base intact before the bomb was detonated but the radiation caused our electronics systems in the plane to malfunction and we ended up having a crash landing. Jacob, Destiny, and I were the only three that made it out of the base alive."

"The others were caught in the firefight," Sarah asked as she looked at him.

"Enough I don't want to talk about the past I wanted to talk to you about what we have to do here," Neo interrupted as he stopped and leaned onto a stone building, "I got a message from a man named House and he said to come to the lucky Thirty- Eight casino in Vegas. Would you know how that man knows of me and why he asked me to come here of all places."

"The man has never been seen only heard of. He runs the strip here and he does so from the casino," she stated as she noticed Neo's gaze was towards the tower.

Something was telling her that their encounter was going to end up badly and she had a feeling that it was going to be by Neo's doing. Neo sighed as he looked at her once more. Her emerald green eyes fixated on him, just as the desert winds blew Neo grabbed her by the arm and pushed her into the nearby alley. Seconds later a man staggered past and seemed to be frantically searching for something. Neo had pinned Sarah in between him and the wall and held both of her arms up above her head. Sarah stared at him for a minute before she realized the man had an injury on his right shoulder. Neo had waited patiently as the figure peeked into the alley and quickly looked the other direction before continuing on his path.

"Who was that Neo," Sarah asked as she gained the ability to use her arms again.

"Earlier Boone and I had been shot at by a sniper, we managed to hit him in his shoulder and from what I could see about him he was hit by a .308 round," Neo responded as he held her in the alley before peeking to see where the man had gone.

"Neo is someone trying to kill you," Sarah asked as she forced him to turn toward her, a look of worry on her face, "If we plan on traveling together I need to know."

"Caesar has been trying to kill me for some time now and he's hired assassins to do it," Neo said as he rested his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry about me I'll be fine, and I believe they are after you also. Though I have no idea about it though."

"Why would they be hunting me," She asked after a moment.

"You're work for Mr. House would probably be the reason, and when you traveled with me it made it easier to find you," Neo replied as he motioned her to follow him, "Let's go get our supplies for the trip we have a long walk ahead of us."

Boone worked with Victor to find a place to stay that was cheap then coming to the conclusion of vault 21. Boone


End file.
